Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Grey's new gear...

Today, Grey got his very first pair of KAFOs (knee ankle foot orthoses). These are braces that go above his knee and can be locked so that the knee has complete support when standing. I spent many nights worrying and debating weather or not we should stick with his GRAFOS (ground-reaction ankle foot orthoses) or take the leap and go with KAFOs. So far I am THRILLED with our decision! Grey's quads are extremely weak and it is nearly impossible for him to stand for any length of time without some sort of support for his knees, and trying to walk...forget about it. His knees would just buckle. We have been using knee immobilizers for months and for standing and walking they have been working pretty well, although they were getting much too small and we knew we didn't have much time left with them.

Grey with his knee immobilizers on

So, I went in to talk with Gabe...the most amazing orthotics guy around and he showed me something that I didn't even know existed. It's a KAFO that can turn back into a GRAFO...amazing.

See how it attaches near the ankle? Awesome.

At that point, it was a no-brainer. We knew that these were the braces for Grey! Before I show you what his new braces look like, I thought that we could take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce a little about his past AFOs...

Can you even handle this picture? I can't.

Grey got his first teensy tiny pair when he was just 3 months old. He had a curve to his foot, that if left untreated...would just get "curvier" so we strapped these bad boys on for about 20-22 hours a day and voila! his feet were (and still are) straight and beautiful!

Next came a pair that he only wore at night. This pair was to help with his plantar flexion (basically they pointed his foot down).

Here we are putting them on

and here he is just being cute. :)

Next he got his "standing AFOs" this was the first pair to help with standing.

Who is this kid?

snacks are always a good motivator

He also figured out how to take this pair off

His next pair were GRAFOS....they give a bit more support at the knee, you can tell in these pictures that there is an insert that goes above his knee in the front.Next, it was time for the casting of his new KAFOs...here is Gabe doing what he does best...

Thank you for sharing all of Grey's braces. We are thinking about trying something new and I hadn't seen some of the braces you described before. That's why I love reading these blogs. It definitely helps me know what to expect. Thank you! :)

Aweee, look at that sweet boy! Welcome to the KAFO club! I really had a hard time with those at first... but now we love them b/c it stabilizes katie so much and she is walking ALLLLL over the place now! Hooray! AND Hooray for sweet Grey!

For the record, I can't handle that picture for ONE second of all those cute little AFO's lined up like that! Just melt my heart!

Oh Leigh. I am bubbling with excitement and yes, it was too much for me. I am going to reference this post quite a bit in the next year or so.... I Hope!!! Let's get out of this hip brace and get going. :) Love the pic of the Rocky tee and his walker. Oh I LOVE IT!!!!!!! Praying for you and cheering on your strong lil man. Love ya girl!

Oh Leigh, these new KAFO'S are so perfect! I'm so glad they are working so well for your little guy.

We had something similar a few years ago for Jake, but they went up to his hips and caused him so much pain, that he refused to wear them. He was absolutely miserable. But these...oh my, they just might be the right thing for Jake. I'm definitely going to talk to his Orthotist to see if they would be a possibility! Thank you so much for sharing.

We go to Gabe as well! They are great there! We just got DAFO's from them. That was the second time we have gotten braces from them and they were perfect the first time. Gray looks amazing. I love watching him grow.

Wow - great stuff Leigh! I am SO happy for Grey. Theses look like they are going to be awesome for him. I can not even believe how much he is growing. You have a big boy on your hands now and a darn handsome one at that.

About Me

We are Andy and Leigh Gibbs and we are loving being parents to our little Greyson! Greyson was born on Feb. 12, 2009 with spina bifida. He spent 11 days in the NICU and is finally home where he belongs!